https://www.scmp.com/rss/518866/feed For some carbon-intensive industries such as cement production and aviation, affordable decarbonisation technologies do not exist as they are still under development. Capturing the carbon emissions, storing it in safe underground or undersea caverns, or utilising it in industrial applications is a much-needed interim solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Carol Yang Carol Yang China has achieved a breakthrough in its decarbonisation efforts by successfully repurposing a long-haul oil pipeline to transport carbon dioxide, in a trial run that offers a potentially scalable solution to accelerate the nation’s ambitious climate goals. The 27km (16.8-mile) route delivered carbon dioxide to an oilfield in central China’s Henan province earlier this month, according to China Oil and Gas Pipeline Network Corporation, also known as PipeChina. In an online statement, the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3343072/china-turns-old-oil-pipeline-new-carbon-highway-green-cost-cutting-gambit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3343072/china-turns-old-oil-pipeline-new-carbon-highway-green-cost-cutting-gambit?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2026 02:00:11 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela In the first high-precision satellite mapping of carbon dioxide emissions from large international coal power plants, Chinese scientists have found that existing databases are underestimating discharges from facilities across the globe. They include China’s Tuoketuo – the largest coal-fired power station in the world – and Alabama’s James H. Miller Jnr facility, the most polluting plant in the United States, according to a paper published on June 9 by the peer-reviewed Journal of Cleaner... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3316469/chinese-scientists-uncover-coal-powers-dirty-secret-satellite-data-study?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3316469/chinese-scientists-uncover-coal-powers-dirty-secret-satellite-data-study?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Jul 2025 07:00:09 +0000 Lo Hoi-ying Lo Hoi-ying Hong Kong’s forests can store more than 7 million tonnes of carbon, equivalent to one-fifth of the city’s annual emissions, according to estimates in a first-of-its-kind local study. The research, which looked at more than 100 native tree species, also found those with the best potential to capture the greenhouse gas, providing data for authorities and private developers when assessing the carbon footprint of their projects. Coinciding with Earth Day on Tuesday, the Conservancy Association... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3307495/hong-kong-forests-can-store-over-7-million-tonnes-carbon-study-finds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3307495/hong-kong-forests-can-store-over-7-million-tonnes-carbon-study-finds?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Apr 2025 13:31:41 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng Switzerland-based Climeworks, which has built the world’s largest carbon capture plant, is in discussions with Hong Kong investors, offering them exposure to potentially lucrative projects that cost between US$2 billion and US$3 billion to build. Some of the talks are at an advanced stage, but the high financing costs and deployment of relatively new technology on capital-intensive infrastructure mean only investors with a long investment horizon would be a suitable match, said co-founder and... https://www.scmp.com/business/climate-and-energy/article/3284299/swiss-unicorn-climeworks-seeks-hong-kong-investors-carbon-capture-projects?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/climate-and-energy/article/3284299/swiss-unicorn-climeworks-seeks-hong-kong-investors-carbon-capture-projects?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Nov 2024 23:30:11 +0000 Eric Ng,Martin Choi Eric Ng,Martin Choi More than a dozen Hong Kong property developers and construction firms have formed a working group to standardise procurement of low-carbon construction materials as part of their climate-action plans. The group, known as the Hong Kong Proptech Alliance, is seeking to slow or stop emissions embedded in construction materials across the industry’s supply chain. Major procurement shifts, policy incentives and technical documentation frameworks are required to drive investments that will help the... https://www.scmp.com/business/climate-and-energy/article/3278278/hong-kong-developers-act-cut-supply-chain-emissions-construction-building-materials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/climate-and-energy/article/3278278/hong-kong-developers-act-cut-supply-chain-emissions-construction-building-materials?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:17 +0000 ExxonMobil has joined the global Opec cartel in crossing swords with the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the global net zero movement on what is set to be a critical controversy. That is, how sharply can we cut demand for oil and gas without inflicting widespread economic harm on the path to net zero carbon emissions by 2050? The debate simmered fiercely on the margins of Cop28 in Dubai last year. It will undoubtedly flare up again at Cop29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November. Government... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3276741/big-oil-threatening-turn-cop29-fight-over-industrys-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3276741/big-oil-threatening-turn-cop29-fight-over-industrys-future?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Sep 2024 08:30:09 +0000 Amid the clanging of hammers and the glow of molten metal, an unexpected environmental revolution is taking shape. The steel industry, long perceived as a climate villain, is forging a new identity as a champion in the fight against global warming. This transformation isn’t just reshaping an age-old industry, it’s redefining our understanding of how even the most carbon-intensive sectors can pivot towards a sustainable future. Steel is fundamental to modern civilisation, used in everything from... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3273249/steel-industry-forging-new-identity-champion-sustainability?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3273249/steel-industry-forging-new-identity-champion-sustainability?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Aug 2024 08:30:09 +0000 Yujie Xue,Eric Ng Yujie Xue,Eric Ng China has put limits on coal-based steelmaking projects in the first half of this year, a significant turning point as the world’s biggest polluter rushes to meet its dual-carbon targets, according to Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. In the first six months of 2024, provincial governments permitted 7.1 million tonnes per annum of steelmaking capacity, all of which were projects using electric arc furnaces, according to the CREA report published on Thursday. This is in... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3269981/china-marks-turning-point-after-limiting-approvals-coal-based-iron-and-steel-projects?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3269981/china-marks-turning-point-after-limiting-approvals-coal-based-iron-and-steel-projects?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jul 2024 00:00:14 +0000 Carbon capture and storage made a splash in the headlines again last month when China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry began building its third specialist vessel for the European joint venture Northern Lights, to transport liquefied carbon dioxide from emitters to storage facilities. Northern Lights, a venture between three natural gas industry giants – Norway’s state-run Equinor, British multinational Shell and France’s TotalEnergies – has ordered at least four such vessels from Dalian... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3269068/lets-get-real-carbon-capture-not-next-big-net-zero-hope?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3269068/lets-get-real-carbon-capture-not-next-big-net-zero-hope?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Jul 2024 21:30:10 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil and gas company by market capitalisation, will leverage its conventional oil supplier ties with China to jointly develop clean energy technologies and help Beijing accomplish its carbon neutral goal by 2060. Aramco has been supplying China with crude oil since 1991, according to its website. China imported 86 million tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia last year, or 15.2 per cent of its total imports of 564 million tonnes, according to China Customs... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3269126/saudi-aramco-reiterates-oil-based-ties-support-chinas-clean-energy-rollout?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3269126/saudi-aramco-reiterates-oil-based-ties-support-chinas-clean-energy-rollout?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Jul 2024 04:39:39 +0000 Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSI), a unit of one of China’s biggest shipbuilding conglomerates, has commenced the construction of a third specialist vessel ordered by Northern Lights, which will transport liquefied carbon dioxide from emitters to sites for permanent geological storage. Northern Lights is developing the world’s first cross-border carbon dioxide transport and storage infrastructure and has ordered four such vessels from DSI’s subsidiary Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore (DSO). “It... https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3265469/chinas-dalian-shipyard-begins-work-3rd-liquefied-carbon-dioxide-carrier-boon-sequestration-push?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3265469/chinas-dalian-shipyard-begins-work-3rd-liquefied-carbon-dioxide-carrier-boon-sequestration-push?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jun 2024 08:11:35 +0000 Chinese tech behemoth Tencent is extending around 100 million yuan ($13.9 million) to fund technologies that prevent carbon dioxide emissions and suck the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere in a decarbonisation move that looks beyond solutions such as renewable energy and electric vehicles (EVs). “Renewable energy, electric vehicles, and nature-based solutions are all examples of such bright spots,” said Xu Hao, Tencent’s vice-president of sustainable social value and head of Tencent’s Carbon... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3263651/climate-change-tencent-chooses-chinese-carbon-capture-and-removal-start-ups-receive-us139-million?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3263651/climate-change-tencent-chooses-chinese-carbon-capture-and-removal-start-ups-receive-us139-million?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 May 2024 02:00:10 +0000 With the climate crisis rapidly deteriorating, it has become clear that slowing down greenhouse gas emissions alone is not going to cut it. Carbon removal technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) have increasingly come into the focus of policymakers and companies because of their potential to reduce or bring about negative carbon emissions. Here’s what you need to know about carbon removal technologies: What... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3208096/ccs-ccu-and-cdr-what-are-these-carbon-capture-technologies-and-how-do-they-fight-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3208096/ccs-ccu-and-cdr-what-are-these-carbon-capture-technologies-and-how-do-they-fight-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Jan 2023 22:30:09 +0000 Global oil and gas giant Shell has teamed up with China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec), China Baowu Steel Group and BASF to study the feasibility of building a large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in China. If the technical study shows that it can work, it could lead to China’s first large-scale project with a capacity to put away tens of million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, Shell said in a statement on Friday. It could offer a decarbonisation solution to some of China’s... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3198481/shell-sinopec-baowu-and-basf-study-feasibility-building-massive-china-carbon-capture-project?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3198481/shell-sinopec-baowu-and-basf-study-feasibility-building-massive-china-carbon-capture-project?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Nov 2022 10:25:34 +0000 Most of the carbon dioxide captured by carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects – widely seen as a solution for fighting climate change – has been used to boost fossil fuel output, leading to more emissions, according to a research report. Almost three-quarters of the annual carbon dioxide capturing capacity worldwide – roughly 28 million tonnes out of 39 million tonnes – has been used for so-called enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects that inject the greenhouse gas into oil and... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3191011/climate-change-why-carbon-capture-and-storage-projects-their-current-form?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3191011/climate-change-why-carbon-capture-and-storage-projects-their-current-form?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Sep 2022 23:45:14 +0000 The risks of investing in carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects are still high, despite their potential and promise of driving down carbon dioxide emissions to mitigate climate change. There is a lack of quality data currently to prove that the technology is already commercially ready and cost competitive, said Michael Salt, an energy economics and finance analyst. The global focus should remain on technologies that have been proven economical and mature, such as renewable energy deployment,... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3184612/carbon-capture-and-storage-tech-too-risky-investment-absence-quality-data?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3184612/carbon-capture-and-storage-tech-too-risky-investment-absence-quality-data?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Jul 2022 07:00:17 +0000 Coal-rich and natural gas-poor China must place bigger bets on both carbon capture and energy storage technologies, as it navigates a decarbonisation route that includes a huge renewable energy buildout while ensuring energy security, analysts said. Given the elevated gas prices sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the less carbon-intensive fuel will have limited room to grow and replace coal in power generation in China, the analysts said. Meanwhile, the country’s huge fleet of coal power... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3183555/coal-rich-gas-poor-china-needs-more-carbon-capture-and-energy-storage-tech?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3183555/coal-rich-gas-poor-china-needs-more-carbon-capture-and-energy-storage-tech?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jun 2022 23:30:23 +0000 Global oil and gas giants Shell and ExxonMobil have teamed up with China National Offshore Oil Corp and the Guangdong provincial government to conduct a feasibility study to build China’s first large-scale offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in Shenzhen. The proposed capacity of the project in Daya Bay off the coast of the southern Chinese city is 10 million tonnes a year, making it one of the largest mooted globally so far. The buildout of CCS projects globally will require... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3183371/shell-exxonmobil-join-study-build-one-worlds-largest-carbon-capture-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3183371/shell-exxonmobil-join-study-build-one-worlds-largest-carbon-capture-and?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jun 2022 10:30:12 +0000 Research on carbon capture and storage and reducing solar radiation should be stepped up to make the lives of future generations more tolerable as the impact of climate change may last for centuries, an academic said. Global temperatures, and the extreme weather events caused by global warming, are not expected to fall after net zero emissions is achieved, according to Wake Smith, a former Boeing executive who teaches an undergraduate course on climate intervention at Yale University. Sea levels... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3178824/yale-professor-calls-more-research-carbon-capture-cutting-solar-radiation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3178824/yale-professor-calls-more-research-carbon-capture-cutting-solar-radiation?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 May 2022 01:30:24 +0000 China’s cement makers face significant challenges when it comes to adopting the technology they need to capture their carbon dioxide emissions, according to a technology supplier to industry leader China National Building Materials Group. An undeveloped market for the collected gas and the absence of a system to incentivise emissions reduction means corporate efforts remain at a pilot stage, said Calgary-based Delta CleanTech’s president Jeff Allison. “The main challenges include what to do with... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3167959/climate-change-chinese-cement-makers-face-carbon-capture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3167959/climate-change-chinese-cement-makers-face-carbon-capture?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Feb 2022 00:30:14 +0000 China Petrochemical Corporation, or Sinopec, said on Monday that it had started building a carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project in east China, the largest of its kind in the country, as part of the refiner’s goal to be carbon-neutral by 2050. The Chinese state-owned oil and gas producer has been planning to cap its carbon emissions at peak levels before a national timeline set by the government for 2030, both through its work to increase hydrogen output and the treatment and... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3139872/sinopec-says-it-has-started-building-chinas-largest-carbon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3139872/sinopec-says-it-has-started-building-chinas-largest-carbon?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Jul 2021 09:04:15 +0000 China, the world’s largest carbon dioxide emitter, could more than double its capacity to capture and store the gas contributing to global warming in the next four years, if all announced projects are funded, according to an industry research house. In the longer term, revenues generated by the government’s emissions trading scheme will play a key role in supporting its development, said analysts at London-based IHS Markit. Eight large-scale carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS)... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3137245/climate-change-chinas-plans-double-carbon-capture-capacity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3137245/climate-change-chinas-plans-double-carbon-capture-capacity?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jun 2021 10:35:00 +0000 The fourth part of a series on China’s carbon neutrality goal examines the heavy lifting that must be done by the country’s biggest carbon dioxide emitters to reach that target by 2060. Earlier instalments of the series are here, here and here. Airlines, shipping, buildings materials, chemicals and power producers, the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, are expected to do the heaviest lifting over the next four decades for China to meet its carbon neutral goal by 2060. Nine of every 10 vehicles... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3113649/china-looks-carbon-capture-and-hydrogen-push-aviation-shipping-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3113649/china-looks-carbon-capture-and-hydrogen-push-aviation-shipping-power?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Dec 2020 02:00:13 +0000 China’s domestic energy consumption, considered one of the most reliable indicators of the country’s economic performance, rose by 9.4 per cent in the first half of 2018. Amid a heatwave, China also imported over 29 million tonnes of coal in July – the most in any month since January 2014. Energy analysts already knew a coal resurgence was under way. In the first five months of 2018, 870 million tonnes of thermal coal was burned for electricity, up 12 per cent from 2017. Coal imports were up –... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2161129/how-can-china-win-its-war-pollution-and-meet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2161129/how-can-china-win-its-war-pollution-and-meet?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Aug 2018 07:00:30 +0000 Chinese scientists have developed a material that provides a low-cost, highly-efficient method of carbon capture that could be used in the battle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The material works like a filter and absorbs up to 75 per cent of the carbon dioxide molecules passing through it - a far higher efficiency rating than the next best filter in current use, which can absorb no more than 42 per cent, the German scientific journal Angewandte Chemie ( Applied Chemistry) reports. Perhaps... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/technology/article/1744045/chinese-researchers-develop-low-cost-method-carbon-capture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/technology/article/1744045/chinese-researchers-develop-low-cost-method-carbon-capture?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2015 00:45:00 +0000